Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

GARVALD
The present parish, comprising the ancient parishes of
'Garvald and Bara, united ia 1702, is bounded N, NE,
E, and SE by Whittingham, S by Lauder in Berwick-
shire, W by Yester and Haddington, and NW by Morhani.
Its utmost length, from NNE to SSW, is 8£ miles; its
breadth varies between 1| and 4J miles; and its area
is 13,442 acres. The northern division, comprising
about one-fourth of the entire area, is a lowland tract,
all rich in the characters of soil, cultivation, and beauty,
that mark the.great plain of East Lothian; but the other
divisioes consist of portions of the Lammermuir Hills,
ascending to their watershed at the Berwickshire border,
and are mostly bleak, heathy, and mossy, with occasional
patches of verdure. In the N the surface declines to
390 feet above sea-level, and rises thence to 900 at Snaw-
don, 1250 at Kangely Kipp, and 1631 at Lowrans Law.
Hopes Water and two other head-streams of Gifford
Water, descending from the southern heights, unite near
the western boundary, and pass into Yester on their way
to the Tyne. Papana Water rises on the south-eastern
border, and, winding 5 miles northward through the in-
terior, past the village, to the northern boundary, pro-
ceeds thenoe, under different names, to the sea at Bel-
iliaven Bay; vwithin this parish it runs along a very rocky
bed, aad is -subject to violent freshets, sweeping down
stones of great weight, and overflowing portions of its
banks. In 1755 it rose to so great a volume as to flood
some houses in the village to the depth of 3 feet. The
stocks in the N include excellent sandstone, which has
been quarried; and those of the hills are chiefly Silurian.
The soil in the N is a deep rich clay; in the NE is of a
light gravelly nature ; and on the hills is thin and spongy.
An aneient circular camp, 1500 feet in circumference, is
on Garvald farm, and four or five others are dotted over
the hills. Whitecastle and Yester Castle are the chief
antiquities ; the two mansions, Hopes and Nunraw
Castle, are noticed separately. Garvald is in the pres-
bytery of Haddington and synod of Lothian and Tweed-
dale; the living is worth £253. The parish church, at
the village, is an old building, enlarged in 1829, and
containing 360 sittings. There is also a Free church;
and a public school, with accommodation for 125 chil-
dren, has an average attendance of 60, and a grant of
about £57. Valuation (1883) £9320, 10s., (1892) £7254,
2s. 6d. Pop. (1861) 758, (1891) 600.— Ore?. Sur., sh.
33, 1863.
Garvald or Garrel, an ancient parish and a burn in
Dumfriesshire. The parish was annexed, about 1674,
partly to Johnstone, chiefly to Kirkmichael; and it
continues to give name to the two farms of Upper and
Nether Garrel. Its church, rebuilt so late as 1617,
stood on the right bank of Garvald Bum, 3J miles NE
of Kirkmichael church ; and now is represented by
ruined walls and an enclosed burying-ground. The
burn, rising at an altitude of 1050 feet above sea-level,
winds 7J miles south-south-eastward through all the
length of the parish, till it glides into Ae Water, 2 miles
NNW of Lochmaben. With a total descent of 860 feet,
it forms a number of tiny cascades and cataracts, making
in one place a fall of 18 feet over a mural rock. — Ord.
Sur., sh. 10, 1864.
Garvald or Garrel, a hill and a burn in Kilsyth parish,
S Stirlingshire. The hill is part of the Kilsyth range,
and culminates 2J miles NW by N of Kilsyth town
at an altitude of 1381 feet above sea-level. The burn,
issuing from a reservoir on a high plateau, 1J mile
WSW of the hill's summit, and running 1J eastward
under the name of Birken Burn, proceeds 2J miles
south-eastward to Kilsyth town, during which course it
makes an aggregate descent of 1000 feet, necessarily
forming cataracts and falls. It next goes 1| mile south-
westward across Kilsyth plain to the river Kelvin; but,
in traversing the plain, is so drawn off for water-pow;er
and to a lake as to be generally dry except during a
freshet.— Ord. Sur., sh. 31, 1867.
Garvald or Gaxwald Water, a stream of Eskdalemuir
parish, Dumfriesshire, rising, on the southern slope of
Ettkiok Pen, at an altitude of 1850 feet, close to the
Selkirkshire border, and thence winding 6S miles south -
a
GAEVELLOOH
south-eastward and east-north-eastward till it falls into
the White Esk, 2 miles NNW of Eskdalemuir church.
It receives a number of mountain tributaries, and makes
a magnificent waterfall, called Garvald Linn. This linn
is a long descent over a stony channel, sloping here, and
there precipitous, between rocky flanks, for the most
part naked, but clothed at intervals with copse and
brushwood; and forms now a cascade, now a capricious
cataract, now a rushing rapid.— Ord. Sur., sh. _16, 1864.
Garvald House, a mansion in Linton parish, NW
Peeblesshire, near the left bank of South Medwin Water;,
14, mile NW of Dolphinton station, and i\ miles WSW
of West Linton. Having passed by marriage to the
Dicks of Prestonfield from a family of the name of
Douglas, it was purchased in 1827 for £11,650 by John
AVoddrop, Esq. of Dalmarnock, whose son, William
Allan-Woddrop, Esq. (b. 1829; sue. 1845), is present
proprietor. See Biggar.— Ord, Sur., sh. 24. 1864, . Cj
Garvald Point. See Greenock.
Garvan, a hamlet at the mouth of Glen Garvan, in the
Argyllshire section of Kilmallie parish, on the southern
shore of upper Loch Eil towards its head, 9J miles W
by N of Fort William.
Garvary or Blar Garvary, a hill (864 feet) in Kincar-
dine parish, Ross-shire, 2| miles SSW of the church.
Garve, a hamlet, river, and loch on the mutual border
of Contin and Fodderty parishes, Ross-shire. The
hamlet, with a hotel and a station on the Dingwall and
Skye railway, is 11 j miles W by N of Dingwall and
about a mile NW of the loch, and has a post and railway
telegraph office. The river rises on the Dirriemore
Mountains, and runs about 18 miles to the Conan. The
loch, lying 220 feet above sea-level, has an utmost
length and breadth of 1^ and J mile, has finely wooded
shores, is traversed by the Blackwater, and contains
abundance of trout, running 2 or 3 to the lb. Through
Strath Garve, which emerges here, lies the coach road
to Ullapool, alongside of which the ground has been
surveyed for a proposed Garve and Ullapool railway. —
Ord. Sur., sh. 83, 1881.
Garv-Eilan or Garbh-Eilean, the north-westernmost
of the three Shiant Isles in the Outer Hebrides, Ross-
shire, in the North Minch, 4J miles ESE of the nearest
point of the Lewis, and 21 S of Stornoway. Triangular
in shape, it has an utmost length and breadth of 7i and
3 furlongs; is separated from Ellan-na-Kelly only by
a neck of rolled peebles, commonly dry, except at a
concurrence of spring tide and tempestuous wind; has a
surface diversified with hollows and declivities ; and
abounds in rich pasture. — Ord. Sur., sh. 99, 1858.
Garvellan. See Garan.
Garvelloch, a group of four pastoral islets in Jura
parish, Argyllshire, 2J miles W of Lunga. They ex-
tend 4 miles from NE to SW, and are nowhere more than
\ mile broad ; are now valuable solely on account of the
excellence of their pasture for sheep and black cattle;
but have yielded marble, a specimen of which exists at
Inverary Castle. Adanman terms them Insula Hinba
or Hinbina, and in 545 St Brendan seems to have
founded a monastery on the most westerly of the group,
Eilean na Naoimh (' island of the saints '). Swept away
by the defeat of the Dalriadan Scots in 560, this monas-
tery was refounded a few years after by St Columba;
and 'still,' says Dr Skene, ' there are remains of some
very primitive ecclesiastical buildings which we can
identity with Columba's monastery, the first he founded
after that of Iona, and which, fortunately for us, owing
to the island being uninhabited, not very accessible, and
little visited, have not disappeared before the improving
hand of man. The remains are grouped together about
the middle of the island, on its north-eastern side.
Here there is a small sheltered port or harbour, and near
it a spring of water termed Tobar CJialltim na OTiille, or
Columba's Well. Near the shore, S of this, in a shel-
tered grassy hollow, are the remains of the cemetery,
with traces of graves of great age; and adjoining it a
square enclosure, or. small court, on the E of which are
the remains of buildings of a domestic character. N of
this is the church, a roofless building, formed of slates,
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